Feasibility Study of Smart Blue Roofs and Sustainable Development (2017-2019)
Photo above courtesy of Credit Valley Conservation
Blue Roofs are a new strategy for attenuating stormwater flow and reducing heat island effect. In 2017, Urban Water TMU collaborated in a 2 year project with Credit Valley Conservation Authority to study the feasibility of installing a smart blue roof on their headquarters. The project was a large collaboration with a number of other partners including: Region of Peel, City of Mississauga, TRCA, George Brown College, WSP, Enviro-Stewards, and RainGrid.
The project investigated the technical and financial feasibility of installing a smart blue roof. The blue roof was integrated with an “Internet of Things” technology – a system of sensors and real-time controls – for managing the flow of water from the roof to CVC’s existing rainwater harvesting tank for indoor and outdoor non-potable use. The study included a global environment scan of blue roof demonstrations and policy frameworks and collaborating with a large team of blue roof experts. Graduate students from architecture, public policy, and urban planning lead the Urban Water TMU team.
For updated information on the Smart Blue Roof Project please see here: https://www.torontomu.ca/water/events/2024/03/you-are-now-in-the-main-content-area-assessing-the-performance-a/